Carbon‐Dot‐Induced Acceleration of Light‐Driven Micromotors with Inherent Fluorescence

Abstract

Real‐time visualization of the positions of micro/nanomotors is highly desired for practical applications due to the complex environments that they are used in. However, most reported photocatalytic micromotors can only be tracked in transparent solutions under bright fields, which greatly limits their applications. Herein, photocatalytic micromotors based on Cu2O@carbon dot (CDot) particles with excellent fluorescent properties and precise propulsion capabilities in 3D are reported. In the fully green environment of malic acid, the Cu2O@CDot micromotors display efficient propulsion under visible light irradiation (as high as 40.85 μm s−1). In addition, the propulsion direction of the Cu2O@CDot micromotors can be effectively adjusted by changing the direction of light via positive phototaxis. Interestingly, due to the presence of CDots, these new Cu2O@CDot micromotors display excellent and stable fluorescence. This study reports the first photocatalytic micromotors with both novel fluorescence properties and excellent propulsion characteristics in biocompatible environments. Due to their excellent fluorescent properties and precise motion control, these Cu2O@CDot micromotors hold great potential to perform complex tasks across diverse practical applications.

Keywords

• carbon dots
• Cu2O
• malic acid
• micro/nanomotors
• visible light